As someone who’s been selling through online arbitrage on Amazon for about 2 years now, I’m facing a dilemma and would appreciate your insights. Lately, Amazon seems to be actively removing the buy box for sellers if the item’s price is significantly higher than on other websites. This strategy of Amazon complicates our ability to forecast profitability.

The main issue here is the lack of clarity from Amazon regarding the maximum price threshold before they decide to remove the buy box. This uncertainty makes each purchase a risk, potentially leading to razor-thin margins, breaking even, or even losses. I’ve purchased products before that seemed promising only to have Amazon remove the buy box until I brought it down to a price that led to a loss.

Given these circumstances, I’m questioning the feasibility of continuing with OA on Amazon. How are you all managing this situation? Do you still find OA on Amazon to be a viable strategy?

Eager to hear your thoughts and experiences.

I have been in this community for a couple of years and have gained lots of information from here. I know there are a TON of posts on here about Amazon and about people trying to peddle their courses or books, which I am not. I simply want to give back.

NOW keep in mind this is a RETAIL ARBITRAGE based model. If you don't know what that is, just YouTube it. Plenty of people on there talking about it.

This is something you can start literally today and start making money. I am not a millionaire, but I have been doing this since 2016 and have found a relative amount of success. I am 23 and started this when I was 18 with a small amount of savings I had. Not saying that to brag, but to say that if a dumbass like me can figure it out at 18, so can you.

DEFINING TERMS RA or retail arbitrage is the process of purchasing an item in a retail store (or online - OA) and proceeding to sell it online in this case with Amazon.

Amazon FBA or fulfillment by Amazon is where you (the seller) sends shipments of items that you find in a retail store to an Amazon warehouse where they take care of shipping the items to customers and then providing customer service. Tons of intricacies interwoven but I am trying to keep it simple.

Amazon FBM or fulfilled by merchant. Instead of sending many different things to an Amazon warehouse, you (the seller) are responsible for shipping the item to the customer. Think of this like selling on eBay except more professional. We have actually been doing this primarily over FBA.

Amazon Category and Sales Rank. Category is easy enough, but the sales rank is how "popular" an item is. The lower the sales rank, the better an item is selling. To figure out what a good sales number is per category of item, just google "Amazon sales rank chart" the first image is the one I love to use the most.

Amazon Buy Box. When you go to Amazon and purchase an item, you click on the "buy box" purchase or to add it to your cart. This is highly coveted and no one knows the algorithm that determines who gets it. Probably a combination of lowest price, product availability, sell through rate, and account metrics.

STEP ONE - STARTING OFF - Creating an Amazon FBA Account

I don't really know if this has changed much because it has been years since my account was created. There are plenty of videos on YouTube about this too.

I highly recommend Bearded Picker on YouTube or Flipping_Junk.

SUPPLIES I hate to keep saying it but YouTube is a fantastic resource but I will outline the basics.

Printer - I started with a simple inkjet which you can too, but that ended up getting expensive, so I moved onto the wonder that is a thermal printer. Specifically the Rollo. (I wish I was sponsored by them).

Boxes - We buy boxes by the hundreds at a local box store, but I started by going to Lowe's or Home Depot where you can just buy XL and L boxes respectively.

Labels - If you are using an inkjet printer, disregard this, but if you choose to use a thermal printer, you'll need to buy 4x6 labels for shipping labels and smaller 2 5/8 x 1 inch for product labels.

Patience - This is by no means easy, but if done right and with perseverance, this can be a great business.

Amazon Seller App - This is one of the most important things you need to run this business. By simply scanning a barcode on an item, Amazon will tell you the sales rank, item category, how much the item is selling for, how many sellers are on a listing, and the condition you are able to sell the item(s) in.

SOURCING - The process of going to the retail stores to arbitrage.

This is where we can really get into the weeds. YouTube would have you believe that you can sell anything on Amazon that you find in store. I am sorry to say that is a lie and deceiving. In fact you cannot resell a good amount of large brands. Even the most seasoned of Amazon accounts cannot sell Nike, LEGO, GE, insert large brand here. In order to sell from these huge brands, you'd have to purchase directly from the brand manufacturer and provide amazon with those invoices.

BUT NOT TO FEAR, SIMPLY SELL THE LESS THAN GLAMOROUS ITEMS.

I am talking stuff that isn't bright and shiny, but instead that is necessary. For example; replenishables. Light bulbs, socks, nail polish: things people use and repurchase frequently.

I have found tremendous luck at stores like Home Depot and Lowe's. Actually, I have had the most success at just these stores alone. I am in a relatively large metropolitan area and there are 5-6 of these stores around town. By simply going to them a few times a month, I have found success.

PRO TIPS - SOURCING 1 Be open, friendly, and honest with what you are doing to employees and managers. I have tried to make friends with as many of these people as possible. You'll be shocked at how much they'll help you out.

I remember last year, Home Depot had put a set of five solar garden lights on clearance. They had around 50-60 boxes for $12 each. I asked an employee if there was a manager and asked the manager that if I took all, if she would give me a deal. She told me yes and I bought them all at $8 a piece. Made an absolute killing on those.

2 Have a plan. My typical path in the store is to go down EVERY aisle. You will be shocked to find clearance items strewn about in an otherwise normal aisle. After that, I will go back to the clearance sections and hit those.

Also, I have had a good amount of luck scanning items that are priced normally. If you have to spend a whole day in a store to kind of understand what different things are selling for on Amazon, do it. Learn as much as you possibly can.

3 Chase hype products, crazes, controversies, and what is currently hot. Now, I am not saying to go and buy all the toilet paper you can, I am saying to keep an ear to the news. When I heard about the Mr. Potato Head drama, I didn't act as soon as I could. I went to Walmart a day or so after the news broke and found one completely stocked with Mr. Potato Heads but EVERY other Walmart in my area was sold out. Instead of making $15,000 on those, I only made $1,500.

4 The more "seasoning" your amazon account gets, the more you will be able to sell. I remember when my account got approved to sell GE. It was like a whole new world opened up and I have since made a TON of money on that brand. So what I am saying is to just keep working and have patience.

5 Utilize websites that help with locating an item and pricing it. I use brickseek all of the time to help find items that are hot. It has an inventory tracker that is pretty accurate so I know which store sells the item I am looking for and for how much. Also camelcamelcamel to check the pricing history of an item.

An example of this is two years ago when I found by chance the "Raid Insect Fogger". One of my most profitable finds ever. One Lowe's had around 50 for $3 and they were selling on Amazon for $25-32. I used Brickseek to find them and clean my whole town out, and then used it and called Lowe's in different states and ended up buying thousands of them.

6. Other sellers/Amazon on a listing. So I am unlike a lot of others who do this in that if Amazon.com is selling an item on a listing for an item that I am willing to buy, 8 times out of 10, I will not buy the item. Amazon has the tendency to give themselves the buy box (of course) and will typically match your price force you to sell out of the item and then their algorithm with raise theirs. Same thing if there are 15-20+ other sellers on the item listing. Unless it is super hot, I won't usually buy an item with that many people selling. Just too risky for me.

7 Fees. Amazon is FULL of fees and probably why we are doing more merchant fulfilled than we are Amazon fulfilled. There are selling fees which are a percent of how much the item has sold for, taxes, storage fees, return fees, per item fee (unless you upgrade to a professional seller account), disposal fees, advertising (which I do not do), long term storage fees, and probably many more that I am forgetting. Bottom line is that you make your money when you buy the item. Buy it low enough and sell it high enough to cover fees and get a good ROI.

8 Customer service. Arguably Amazon seller support is one of the biggest farces of all. Many of them do not have a solid grasp on the English language, stick to a script, and are in general more frustrating than helpful. Stick instead to the seller forums or r/fulfillmentbyamazon for some pro support and tips from other sellers.

9 Account metrics. These have become more and more important. Amazon has a scoring sheet called the Inventory Performance score. This is a combination of excess inventory, sell through, stranded inventory, and in stock levels. Google or YouTube this because it affects so much of your account and your storage limits.

10 Seasonality. Ahh, one of my favorite topics. Seasonality for me is HUGE. The day after a major holiday, decorations go on sale and you can sometimes get these for 70-90% off of retail price. I will typically find items that are profitable and hold them. A few months before that specific holiday, send them in and enjoy a crazy return. We do this every year with Christmas lights and make thousands.

This can apply towards the end of summer when these stores discount their outdoor lights or towards the end of winter when heaters are on sale.

There is a ton of nuance and little things I am most definitely missing, but I will try to add them as they come up or you can message me as well. Happy to help!

P.S. bUy mY cOUrSE - if I had one

My formatting is ass but I tried